Ice Cream, You Scream, We All Scream for Turtles?
by Winged Monkey
Summary: No longer a oneshot! Ice cream, kickbutt ninja action, and a Rubix Cube of Doom. What more could you want? Except for maybe an evil that has returned from the past.
1. Ice Cream

_A/N: Hi! This is my first fic here. Any and all reviews are very welcome. I hope you enjoy it!_

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Turtles or practically anyone I wrote about, just the plot. And that's probably a good thing!**

"Mmm….Hot dogs sound really good right now," Michelangelo drooled. "So does pizza, and spaghetti, and ice cream. I mean, you can't get a decent ice cream anywhere in the city!"

His brother's rolled their eyes.

"Mikey, for once why don't you try to enjoy your Tyrinian Prapple Slush?" Donatello asked, shaking his head.

You would have thought that by now, Michelangelo would have begun to like at least some of the food of the future. After all, he had been eating it for months, now.

"It's just not the same as a triple chocolate crunch," Mikey grumbled, poking at the frozen alien desert with his spoon.

"You might be able to find some down town," Cody Jones interjected. "After all, that _is_ where you found those hot dogs."

"How about we make a day of it," Leonardo agreed. "I always enjoy going there."

"I shall go with you to ensure that you five stay out of mischief for a change," Master Splinter announced with a twinkle in his eye. "Also, an ice cream sundae sounds very good right now."

--------------------

High above them, hidden among the shadows of where the wall's corners met the roof, a tiny red light, barely perceptible to the naked eye, blinked on and off every few seconds. From this vantage, Darius Dun watched the conversation go back and forth on the holo-screen in his ship.

"So, dear nephew, you are going down town," he chuckled evilly to himself, rubbing his hands together. "You'll find more than just a foolish dessert of those cretins' time period. Oh yes, I can guarantee it!" He laughed again; it was a deep, evil laugh.

--------------------

Donatello landed the Hover Shell expertly. He had finally gotten the hang of the whole vertical parking thing. Cody, the turtles and Master Splinter all leaped out of the craft and down onto the pavement.

"So, uh, guys, what exactly is ice cream?" Cody asked.

The turtles looked at each other.

"You're kidding, right?" Michelangelo asked, astonished.

"Nope."

"Well, let me put it this way," Raphael answered, placing his arm around the boy's shoulders. "Compared to it, that alien slush tastes like Kenabo slime."

"And they scoop it up and serve it in these little cones that taste just like cardboard," Michelangelo added with a look of longing on his face.

"Why would I want to eat cardboard?" Cody puzzled.

"Most of us don't," Leonardo responded with a grin. "Mikey's the only one that likes the cones. The rest of us prefer to eat ice cream out of a bowl."

They turned the corner into the main market area.

"Here we go," Cody announced with a sweep of his arm. "It's the food market day. We've held them here once a week for almost a half of a century. If it's made or grown anywhere on Earth, you can find it here."

The turtles – especially Michelangelo – gasped at the sheer number of booths and aliens. The street was packed.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Mikey jumped up and down excitedly. "I can almost smell its sweet scent!" Amused, the others followed him into the crowd.

They passed by many booths filled with exotic foods and smells. But still no ice cream. Michelangelo was becoming more disappointed by the minute.

"No ice cream, no cotton candy, not even a measly candy bar! What is up with the future?"

"It's OK, Mike." Leonardo patted his youngest brother on the back. "We aren't even all the way through the market. Maybe we'll find some ice cream yet."

After about five more minutes, they reached the end of the stalls. The very last one, to the delight of everyone, was filled to the brim with deserts.

"Ice cream! Get your genuine 21st century style ice cream!" the many-armed robot tending the booth called out to them.

Immediately, Michelangelo perked up and ran over to the stall. "I'll take a triple chocolate dipped cone, please."

The robot shop keeper made a confused beep. "I'm sorry, sir," it said, shaking its metallic head, "I don't know what a 'cone' is. All my ice cream is served in genuine replica Styrofoam bowls. Would you like that?"

"Ok, I guess," Michelangelo replied, sighing. "It's just not the same, without a cone," he mumbled under his breath.

"Well, that's the first thing that I'm glad _didn't_ make it this long," Raphael smirked as he placed his order.

Once they had all placed their orders, the robot began scooping up the ice cream into bowls. When it was done, it handed a bowl to each of the turtles, Cody, and Master Splinter.

"Oh, before you go," the robot added as it handed out the last bowl, "here is a thank you present for being the first people to try my delectable delight today."

He handed a multi-colored cube to Cody. "I hope you will have fun with this."

"Thanks!" Cody put the cube into his pocket as he and the others walked away, eating their ice cream.

As soon as their backs were turned, the ice cream robot closed up the front of its booth and entered the building behind it.

"I have completed your orders, master."

"Good," came the answer from the shadows.

--------------------

Later on, back in his penthouse, Cody pulled the brightly colored cube out and stared at the nine colored squares on each side. As he was turning it around in his hand, he accidentally moved one of the rows.

"Hey guys! Look at this!" he called. Michelangelo and Donatello walked over to him and looked over his shoulder.

"What's up, little ninja?"

"Look at this cube the ice cream robot gave me. It can move."

The two turtles looked at each other.

"Um, yeah, so?" Michelangelo asked.

Donatello explained to Cody "It's just a Rubik cube. You know, a toy?"

"I've never seen anything like it before," Cody said.

"You're supposed to try to get all of the same colored squares on one side."

"It's really easy," Michelangelo bragged.

Donatello gave him a glare. "No it isn't."

"Well, it is for me," the orange-clad turtle insisted.

"OK, then show me how." Cody held the cube out to Mikey.

The turtle flipped over the back of the couch, landed right next to Cody and took the cube.

"Just sit back and watch, little ninja."

By this time, Leonardo and Raphael had joined the others.

"This should be good," Raphael elbowed Leo with a smirk.

But to his astonishment, Michelangelo was well on his way to solving the puzzle. Three minutes later, with his tongue sticking slightly out of the side of his mouth, Michelangelo made the last turn, making all of the colors match up.

Impressed, the others clapped. Still holding the cube, Mikey stood up and bowed.

"Is it supposed to glow like that?" Cody abruptly interjected, pointing at the cube.

"Um, I don't think so," Michelangelo said, holding the cube up to his face.

Suddenly, all of the sides opened up and a plastic-wrap-like container expanded over and contained the surprised turtle. He could barely move.

"HEY! GET ME OUT OF THIS!" he yelled, panicked.

The other three turtles had already drawn their weapons. Leonardo was the first to strike the case. Instead of the energy from his blades cutting through the hard material, it was reflected back at him, knocking him back onto the floor. The same thing happened with Raphael and Donatello's attacks.

All of a sudden, the holographic head of Darius Dun appeared over the top of the thing that had trapped Mikey.

"Greetings, cretins."

"DUN!" Leonardo exclaimed. "Let him go!"

However, the hologram continued without seeming to hear him. "Do not try to follow us, or my dear nephew may be made, shall we say, rather uncomfortable. I'm told that having all of the air squeezed molecule by molecule out of one's body is most certainly unpleasant!" the hologram grinned cruelly.

With those final words, the container holding Michelangelo rose up off of the ground and speed out through a nearby window, breaking the glass on its way out.

"NOOOO!!! MIIIIKEEEEEEY!!!!" His brothers and Cody ran to the window, but Michelangelo had completely disappeared.

--------------------

In an abandoned warehouse next to the Hudson River, Darius Dun paced back and forth under an open skylight. The four Dark Clones watched him from the shadows.

"What'dya think he's doin'?" Dark Michelangelo asked, his tongue lolling around.

"I don't know, so shut up, you under-developed imbecile," Dark Donatello answered.

"Well, I know," Dark Michelangelo smirked. "He's walking back and forth and back and forth and back and…"

"Quiet, both of you!" Dark Leonardo exclaimed, exasperated. "Just watch."

As if on cue, a pale object descended from the skylight and landed in front of Darius. The four clones strained their eyes to see what it was.

"WHAT?!?" Dun roared, upon seeing Michelangelo. "Where's the boy? Where's my nephew? You've ruined the entire plan, you annoying terrapin scum!"

"Well, ex-_cuse_ me. It wasn't exactly my idea to get stuck in this, Dun! Anyway, my bros will be here any minute to kick your sorry butt!"

Darius leaned down until his pudgy face was eyelevel with Michelangelo's. "They won't come if they want to keep you alive. Your untimely interference just means a change of plans."

"Why you big cheese-head!" the trapped turtle exclaimed angrily.

Darius merely snapped his fingers and the four clones leaped down beside him.

Michelangelo gulped. "Did I mention that in my century, cheese-head is a term of endearment?"

--------------------

Cody and Donatello were tracking the signal from Michelangelo's gauntlet in the lab as Leonardo, Raphael, and Master Splinter watched. Finally, the blip on the screen that indicated the missing turtle stopped.

"There! He's in the waterfront district!" Cody exclaimed.

"Oh, joy," Sterling sighed from the other side of the room where he was dusting. "I suppose you want to go down there and rescue the miscreant."

"Of course we're going to rescue him!" Raphael exclaimed. "He's our bro!"

"Did anyone notice that Dun's holo-message seemed to assume that he had captured Cody instead of Mikey?" asked Leonardo. "It's like this entire thing was a trap for Cody."

"I'll bet Dun probably installed a couple of spy cameras throughout the building. Cody and I will have to run a complete sweep after we get Mikey back," Donatello said thoughtfully.

Just then, a video link cut through the map. It was Darius. He was standing in a dimly lit building.

"Greetings, Cody."

"Uncle Darius! What have you done with Mikey?"

"He is safe…for now." Darius stepped back to reveal Michelangelo with his hands tied behind his back struggling in vain against the firm grasp of the four Dark Turtles.

Cody's uncle stepped back in front of the five turtles, his face stern. "Now listen very carefully, nephew. Neither you nor your pets will do anything rescue this one if you want him to stay alive. There are some documents being sent over to your penthouse. Sign everywhere that requires a signature and then you must come here alone – not even in that blasted Turtle-X armor that you're so fond of. I'm sure you will find a way to locate this warehouse, my little genius." Then the screen went blank and returned to the map.

"What now, Fearless Leader?" Everyone turned to Leonardo.

"We wait for those papers to get here. In the meantime, Don, you and Cody start that scan for bugging devices. We don't want Darius listening in on us anymore. Raph, I need you to come with me to the roof."

"What's on the roof?"

"Trust me on this one."

Master Splinter laid a hand on Leonardo's arm. "I shall trust you implicitly in this matter, my son. Just remember to avoid any actions that might cost your brother his life."

"I will remember, Sensei." Leonardo bowed to his master. "Let's go."

--------------------

Raphael joined Leonardo on the rooftop garden, overlooking the city bustling away without a clue about their predicament.

"Donnie told me once that plants can block a radio signal, so I figured this would be the safest place to talk," the blue-clad turtle said softly, as he leaned slightly over the edge of the wall and looked down to the streets below.

"OK, so what's your plan?"

"I'm sending a complex program to your gauntlet," Leo responded, typing quickly on his own. "Donnie wanted to test it out later, but I guess now would be the right time."

A soft chime came from Raphael's gauntlet. "I still don't get it," Raphael began.

"You will in a moment. Now, the second I tell you to turn the program on, activate it."

Raphael looked at his brother. "Leo, you're really starting to sound like Donnie."

Leonardo shrugged. "Between him and Cody, I guess I've been picking up a bit of the techno-geek lingo, though just between you and me, most of it still doesn't make any sense."

The red-clad turtle grinned.

"On the count of three: one, two, THREE!"

Both of the turtles pushed a button on their gauntlets. It seemed like nothing happened. They were both still on the rooftop.

"Leo," Raphael began to complain, turning to his brother.

"I'm over here, Raph."

Raphael felt a tapping on his shoulder. He spun around, but nothing was there.

"I'm standing right in front of you now," Leonardo's voice came from the nothingness.

"What's going on, bro?"

"Let's just say that Donnie jacked some tech from Zixx, Bishop, and our old friends, the Foot-tech."

A light went on in the other turtle's head as he finally understood. He waved his hand gently through the hologram of Leonardo.

"Pretty sweet, Leo."

The hologram turned to him and said, "Sure is. This hologram has been programmed to act just like I would, even to talk like me."

"The only problem," the real Leonardo said from behind his brother, "is that the range is limited to fifty feet from a gauntlet. That's why I had to transfer the program to you."

"I get it," Raphael grinned. He loved trickery almost as much as Michelangelo. "So while this hologram stays here, you're going to go get Mikey back."

"Bingo," both Leonardo and his hologram nodded. "Just tell Donnie that his 'Easter Bunny' project works. Also tell him to make sure that he and Cody leave one of Darius's bugs so he'll still think I'm here. Call me if anything new comes up."

"You leaving now?"

"The sooner Mikey's out of there, the better. See you in a bit."

There was a rustle of leaves, and Leonardo was gone, leaving Raphael with the hologram.

--------------------

Darius Dun watched in frustration as his video feeds from Cody's penthouse went dark one by one as his nephew and that annoying Donatello found and deactivated them. At least they hadn't found the one in the main living area where they did most of their talking anyway. He looked out of his ship's windshield and into the warehouse that he shared with those genetic refuse. He groaned. What were those imbeciles thinking, leaving Dark Michelangelo to guard the real one?

--------------------

"My nose itches," Michelangelo complained.

He was hanging on the wall from the chains around his wrists.

"This always happens when I can't scratch it. Do you think you could let one of my hands free so I could scratch it?"

His clone glared at him. "How do I know you aren't just trying to escape?"

Mikey gave him an injured look. "I just want to scratch my nose. Do you seriously think I could escape by doing that?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Dude, think about it. If you still had one hand chained to the wall, could _you_ get away?"

"Maybe…Swear it!"

"Swear what?"

"That you won't try to escape."

"Um, what'll I swear on?"

"Cross your heart and hope to die."

"You're going to have to untie one of my arms. I can't reach my heart from here."

"Oh, OK. Hold on a sec." Dark Michelangelo reached up and unhooked the chain from Mikey's right arm.

Quick as a flash, Michelangelo grabbed his nunchuck from its sheath – the Dark Turtles had neglected to take it from him – and smacked his Dark Clone over the head with it. Then he broke the chain off of his other wrist, dropped to the floor, and ran. But almost immediately, Dark Leonardo landed in front of him, kicking him down to the ground and crossing his swords over Michelangelo's neck so that he could not move.

"Going somewhere?"

Mikey managed a weak grin. "Nope."

--------------------

High among the rafters, Leonardo watched invisibly as the Dark Turtles re-secured his brother to the wall and left Dark Raphael as a guard. Leo grinned to himself. If Dark Raphael was anything like his own brother, Mikey should be free again in a matter of moments.

As soon as Dark Leonardo was out of earshot, Michelangelo resumed his attempts to get free.

"You know why he left you to watch me?"

No answer.

"He thinks he's too good to be bothered with guard duty. Do you really like being dissed like that?"

From Leonardo's vantage point, he could see and angry light in Dark Raphael's eyes. Michelangelo had hit a nerve.

"He thinks he's better than you," the orange-clad turtle continued his taunting.

Furious, the Dark Turtle spun around and slammed his fist into the wall only inches from Mikey's head.

"Shaddup! Any more talkin' an' it ain't goin' ta be the wall that's broke! Got it?"

Michelangelo nodded, his eyes big.

Up in the rafters, Leonardo stood up and activated his swords. This was getting too dangerous.

"I was wondering when you'd show up." Dark Leonardo landed on the rafter next to him. "Nice trick, turning invisible like that. Too bad it doesn't block the light of your swords."

"I didn't come to fight you." Leonardo stepped into a defensive pose.

His clone pulled out his own swords. "But I came up here to fight you."

--------------------

At the sound of the clash of steel, both Michelangelo and Dark Raphael looked up. It looked like Dark Leonardo was fighting with the air, except for brief flashes of blue light.

Mikey immediately recognized it as the energy coming off of his brother's swords.

Darius, too, heard the sounds of the fight and came running out of his ship with his battle armor.

"What's going on here?"

Leonardo extinguished his blades, making himself completely invisible.

"Where are you?" Dark Leonardo screamed, swinging his swords around. "Face me, you coward!"

But Leonardo had already dropped silently down to the main floor.

"What are you doing, you piece of genetic refuse?" Darius bellowed up.

"He was here! He was in my grasp and he disappeared!"

Darius rubbed his temples with his forefingers. "Would it be _possible_ to use a subject in your sentences, imbecile? Who was here?"

"Don't take that tone with me, Dun!" Dark Leonardo growled, dropping down in front of him.

"Leonardo was here, but the coward was invisible and disappeared in the middle of our battle!"

Darius glared at him. "I have been watching Leonardo very carefully on the video feed from my dear nephew's apartment. He hasn't left."

"But I'm telling you –" Darius held up his hand. "I don't want to hear another word from you. Go!"

--------------------

While Darius and Dark Leonardo were distracted with their argument, Leonardo snuck past Dark Raphael and clamped an invisible hand over Michelangelo's mouth.

"Shh! I'm getting you out of here, bro."

Michelangelo nodded his head slightly to indicate that he understood.

Leonardo re-activated his swords and sliced right through the shackles on his brother's wrists. Michelangelo dropped down quietly and picked his nunchucks up off of the floor from where Dark Raphael had dropped them. Leonardo took hold of Michelangelo's arm and together they began sneaking behind Darius and the Dark Turtles.

Unfortunately, turtle luck was working true to form and Dark Raphael turned around and saw Mikey.

"HEY! How'd you get loose?"

To make matters worse, the cloaking program began to overheat Leonardo's gauntlet and he flickered in to view. Dark Leonardo glanced at Darius with a smug grin.

"But…but how?" Cody's uncle spluttered.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" Michelangelo taunted, spinning his nunchucks.

"It looks like we have twice the leverage now," Dark Donatello walked in with Dark Michelangelo, who was grinning like a madturtle. Leo and Mikey were surrounded.

"Um, got a plan, Fearless Leader?" Michelangelo asked nervously as Dun's battle suit leveled its laser blasters at them.

"Just one. Remember that big, red button Cody told you not to push on your gauntlet because something nasty would happen? Push it now!"

"But Donnie said –"

"Trust me, Mike!"

The Dark Clones tightened their circle around the turtles. The two Leonardos locked swords, but Dark Raphael grabbed Leo from behind and began squeezing. Michelangelo leaped over Dark Donatello's head and landed on his clone's shoulders. Dark Michelangelo crashed backwards into Darius' battle armor.

"Any…time…now!" Leonardo grunted.

After a moment's hesitation, Michelangelo gritted his teeth, aimed the gauntlet at Dark Leonardo, who was running at him, and pushed the big, red button. Plumes of smoke came pouring out, filling the entire room with thick, billowing smoke.

Dark Raphael foolishly dropped Leonardo in order to rub the smoke from his eyes. His vision cleared only to see a green foot slamming into his face.

Dark red bolts began to blast through the smoke as Darius wildly but blindly began shooting. Leonardo and Michelangelo both dropped below the smoke screen. Their eyes met for a moment and Leonardo pointed anxiously towards the door. They crawled quickly towards it.

"Almost there…Just a few more feet…" Leonardo thought to himself.

Suddenly, a pair of blue turtle feet landed squarely in front of him. Dark Leonardo spun his swords around, clearing the air slightly. Leonardo and Michelangelo stood up to face the Clone.

"You aren't getting away this time!"

The two brothers glanced at each other.

"You wanna bet?"

Simultaneously, they both leapt past Dark Leonardo and ran towards the door. They burst through it and ran to Leonardo's waiting hover bike. They took off as Dark Leonardo chased after them. However, the hover bike quickly out-distanced him and he was left in the dust, shaking his swords after them.

--------------------

With much whirring and humming, the hover bike landed in Cody's hanger. The others were all standing there, waiting. (Mikey had called them on his gauntlet during the ride home.) Michelangelo leaped off and ran to them while Leonardo followed behind.

"Mikey!" Raphael exclaimed, grabbing his little brother and rubbing his head. "You scared us there, bro!"

"How did the "Easter Bunny" program work out for you, Leo?" Donatello inquired.

"It still has a few bugs," the blue-clad turtle pushed a button on his gauntlet to demonstrate. The gauntlet responded with a disparaging whimper of a beep. "But it is way cool."

"Well done, my son," Master Splinter commended Leonardo.

"Thank you, Master." Leonardo bowed with his hands at namaste.

Turning to Cody, Leonardo asked, "So what were those papers that your uncle wanted you to sign?"

Cody wrinkled his nose in disgust. "The package came a few minutes after you left. It was a bunch of legal documents that would have signed all of O'Neil Tech's assets and inventory over to him."

"Looks like good old Uncle Darius is still up to his old tricks," Leonardo commented. "We're going to have to be extra careful from now on about everything, guys. You can bet that this was only the beginning."

"Shouldn't we go give those Clones a heapin' helpin' of smack down?" Raphael asked eagerly, whipping out both of his sai.

Leonardo shook his head. "If you were them and we had just discovered your hiding place, what would you do?"

"Um, get the shell out of there?" Michelangelo ventured. Splinter nodded.

"Surly, they would be of the same mind. However, we can be certain that they will return."

"They always do," Donatello interrupted in agreement.

"And when they return," Leonardo added, "we must be ready for them."

**The End…?**


	2. The Return, Part 1

_A/N: It amy take me a little while before posting Part 2, since I'm not done writing it yet. Writer's Block has been my constant companion for the past several weeks._

**Disclaimer: I don't own them. If I did, they would have figured out how to get back to the present about a month ago.**

* * *

**The Return**

**Part 1**

Millions of miles away in space, a band of asteroids and chunks of ice circled a gaseous planet. Among these hurling pieces of space debris, a scientific exploration ship wove its way around, finally landing on a large chunk that appeared to be composed mainly of ice. Three men in spacesuits exited the craft and began to examine the asteroid with their equipment.

"I'm so glad that the Pan-Galactic Alliance Council finally allowed us to study this belt," one said, swinging his element scanner/recorder around.

"Yeah, me too," another one agreed. "Why did they keep putting it off for so long?"

"I heard it was all politics," the third replied. "Something to do with a banished Utrom criminal from a century ago."

"I dunno," the first shook his head. "I would have thought nothing could survive out here, except maybe a couple of Dracorni ice worms."

None of them noticed the beady eyes watching their every move from behind a nearby rock, nor did they notice the red, blob-like form that scurried from behind the afore-mentioned rock and towards their spaceship. They did not even turn around as the creature scampered quietly up the open gangway and into the hold. The little creature – who looked like nothing more than a brain with eight tiny stubs of legs – made its way up into the cockpit, sticking to the shadows the whole time. To its dismay, it was well guarded by heavily armed humans and Utroms alike, so the creature made its way back into the cargo hold where there was less chance of it being discovered. As it passed from crate to crate, glimmers of light shone upon it, revealing it to be a largish, red Utrom. Finally, it settled down in a well concealed corner behind stacks of crates. The astronauts returned to the ship and closed the hatch, blocking out the view of the asteroid that was so hated by the hidden Utrom stowaway. With a small lurch, the spaceship rose up from the chunk of rock and ice and began its return to Earth.

Twenty-four hours later, the spaceship landed at Moonbase Bishop. The astronauts and most of the crew left the ship; only a few stayed to take inventory and to check the condition of the ship. It was the duty of one Utrom to check the cargo hold and inventory all of the unused materials. The hold was relatively dark, but that did not deter this Utrom. He proceeded with his duties. Suddenly, two eyes opened in the darkness, reflecting what little light there was.

"What?! Who are you? How did you get aboard this ship?" the Utrom exclaimed.

The lights went out. There was a scream, and then silence.

--------------------

A lone Utrom disembarked a shuttle in the Moonport. If he felt any surprise at the melting pot of aliens and humans, he did not show it. Methodically, he made its way away from the hustle and bustle of Central New York City and into the relatively quiet side streets where he was less likely to be noticed. At last, he reached one ancient alley in the waterfront district that looked like it had been there for at least one hundred years. Quickly looking around, the Utrom used his stolen hover chair to lift up the manhole cover and floated down into the sewers.

After making many twists and turns along the sewer line, he stopped in front of a brick wall. One of the mechanical arms from his hover seat reached out and pressed five bricks in rapid succession. The wall opened up to reveal a hidden chamber. It was filled up with a mix of Utrom, Triceraton, and twenty-first century Earth technology. The Utrom floated up to an Utrom exo-suit and slid into the controls. As the front of the suit closed in front of his scarred face, he chuckled evilly.

"With the four thorns in my side long dead by now, I shall be invincible! No one will stop me!"

He shot his pronged hand into the air triumphantly.

Almost three hours later, the Utrom was back on the surface, disguised as a human. It walked along the wharves. So much had changed since he was last here, and yet, it was still very much the same. Suddenly, directly in front of him, two turtles burst out of a warehouse, followed by a blue, turtle-like creature. The blue turtle was chasing after them, waving its swords and screaming.

The disguised Utrom gasped in shock and annoyance. It couldn't be! He recognized the missing piece of shell on one of the turtle's back. His own daughter had put it there. There was no doubt that those two turtles were Leonardo and Michelangelo, barely looking any older that the last time he saw them over a century ago! Grinding his teeth, the Utrom watched his two ancient enemies fly off on a hover bike. The blue turtle sheathed his swords and returned inside.

His curiosity piqued, the Utrom stealthily followed the blue turtle into the warehouse while making sure that he remained unseen. The blue turtle was talking – actually, more like fighting verbally – with three other brightly colored turtles and an obese man.

"They got away!" the blue one was saying.

"Way to go, Fearless Leader!" the purple one sneered.

"I didn't see _you_ doing any better!" the blue one retorted. "You would have let him right out of the building without even _trying_ to stop them!"

"ENOUGH!" the man yelled, visibly aggravated. "I must go out and make arrangements. Did you imbeciles think that I would be so foolish to not have a back-up plan? Now stay here and if those turtles come back, finish them!"

Then, the man stomped up into his hover cruiser and flew off through the opening in the roof.

"Perfect," the Utrom thought to himself. "Four creatures that despise those blasted turtles as much as I do. This presents a unique opportunity."

He stepped out into the open, in front of the turtle creatures.

"Hehe! Looky what we've got here!" the orange one yelled, jumping next to the disguised Utrom and grabbing his arm. The other creatures joined him.

"We don't like snoopers," the blue one grinned, rubbing one finger along the edge of his sword.

"Hey, D.L., show 'im what we do wid snoops!"

"It would be my pleasure." The blue one raised the sword over his head and swung.

Before the blue turtle could start on the down stroke, the Utrom released his arm from the orange turtle and threw him across the room while at the same time, grabbing the blue turtle's hand and forcing the sword from it. As the sword went flying towards the ceiling, the Utrom leaped up and caught it and then landed with a double back flip.

The four turtles hesitated a moment before attacking. The red one was the first to reach the disguised alien. The Utrom spun around, low to the floor, knocking the turtle's legs out from underneath him. Both the purple and the orange ones engaged him next. It was a simple matter of footwork to keep them getting in each other's way and tripping themselves up. The two aggressors began arguing among themselves.

"Cease and desist with your continuous interference, you simple-minded buffoon!" the purple one yelled.

"Move yourself!" the orange one retorted.

They tackled each other, wrestling themselves to the ground. The blue one merely shook his head and rushed his opponent. Holding perfectly still, the Utrom waited, keeping his stolen sword pointed downwards. At the last second, as the turtle was about to strike, the Utrom sprung backwards onto his hands and then used his momentum to leap forwards, bringing his feet into direct contact with the blue turtle's face. The turtle fell with a thud, dropping his sword. Before any of the beaten turtles could blink, the disguised alien picked up the other sword and crossed both of them over the blue turtle's throat.

"Move and you lose your head!"

"Who…who are you?" the blue turtle grunted.

"I have many names," the Utrom replied. "A hundred years ago, on this planet, I was Oroku Saki. I had another name then as well, for I was, I _am_, the Shredder. I was feared by all who knew my name. My power was unmatched throughout the galaxy. But then, those blasted turtles interfered and everything went awry. I was banished by the Utrom council and they kept me away for a long time. But now I am back and will take my revenge!"

The Shredder freed the blue turtle from the swords.

"I believe we could be mutually beneficial to each other."

--------------------

Donatello handed the last component of Darius' bugging device down to Cody.

"The entire penthouse is now bug free." With that, he leaped down from the top of the tall ladder next to Cody and Leonardo.

"Good work guys," Leonardo nodded, pleased. "Now that Dun can no longer listen in, we should probably take some precautions to make sure that the penthouse will remain secure."

"Don and I can re-work the security system. Uncle Darius probably installed a couple of back doors in it that we need to get out," Cody suggested.

"Good idea, little ninja." Donatello ruffled the boy's hair. "We'll get on it first thing in morning."

Michelangelo walked in with Raphael; both were yawning.

"I dunno about you, dudes, but I am _so_ ready for a good night's sleep."

"Well, it is past midnight," the blue-clad turtle admitted, glancing at the clock on the computer screen.

His purple-clad brother also yawned. "We'll get on it in the morning, and I'll also fix your gauntlet, Leo. Good night, guys." Donatello turned and walked into the spare bedroom that he and his brothers were sharing.

Michelangelo followed him, while Cody headed to his own bedroom.

"You coming, bro?" Raphael turned and asked Leonardo, who had made no move to join the others.

"I'll be there in a couple of minutes."

"Suit yourself." Raphael joined the other two turtles in the bedroom.

Leonardo sat down in the lotus position in front of the large picture windows and began meditating on the day's events. It amused him to hear, after a few minutes, the loud snoring echoing out of the bedroom. He closed his eyes and soon even the harsh sound of Raphael's snoring was but a faint hum in the back of his mind. His mind drifted back and forth on the very edge of consciousness. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he leaped up, spun around, and drew his swords.

"Astute, as always, Leonardo," a voice said from the shadows.

"No! It can't be! You _can't_ be real!" The turtle's eyes widened in fear.

--------------------

Michelangelo got out of bed, yawning, stretching, and rubbing his eyes.

"Mmm…time for breakfast. I hope Sterling makes some scrambled eggs for a change…WOAH!"

He walked smack into something that was blocking the entrance to the room, and it wasn't a door.

"What the shell…?"

He tried pushing it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Raph! Raph! Wake up!" The orange-clad turtle hurried over to his brother's bed and shook the snoring turtle.

"Ehh…….go away!" Raphael smacked out a hand and turned over.

Michelangelo growled impatiently. "Raph! Something really bad's happened!"

"Go bug Leo. I'm sleeping."

Frustrated, Michelangelo threw up his hands and hurried over to Leonardo's bed. It was empty, and didn't look like it had been slept in.

"Leo?" his brother called. "Um, Leo? Not funny, dude!"

Donatello opened one eye. "What's going on, Mikey?"

"There's something in front of the door and I can't move it to get out and Leo's not here and I don't know where he is and I'm getting really hungry and I want out!"

Raphael leaned up on one arm. "You done?"

Michelangelo thought for a minute. "Yep."

"OK, let's see what's blocking the door." He got up with a grunt. "It feels like some sort of wood."

Raphael put his shoulder to it and pushed. It didn't budge, so Michelangelo joined in on the pushing as well. With a sigh, Donatello leaped out of bed and landed next to his two brothers and joined the effort. With the three of them combined, they managed to move it about a half of an inch.

"O….k…." the purple-clad turtle panted. "This doesn't seem to be working."

"Gee, really? What was your first clue?"

Donatello gave his brother a look. "Whatever is blocking our doorway seems to be fortified from the bottom. Perhaps if we were to use the correct leverage, it would flip over itself."

"Huh?"

"We hit it at the top instead of pushing it from the bottom."

"Ooooh."

The three turtles walked backwards a little, and then with a "HYAH!" vaulted up and kicked the obstacle. The thing wobbled for a moment before crashing down with the sound of breaking glass. There was now just enough room for the turtles to squeeze through the top. The sight that greeted them was one of total disaster. Furniture was overturned. The curtains were hanging in tatters. Blast and cut marks were everywhere. And in the middle of all this, a dark, limp form lay on the floor.

"LEO!"

The three turtles ran to where he lay on the floor. He did not respond. There were burn and cut marks all over his body.

"Come on! Please be OK, bro!" Michelangelo begged.

Donatello quickly examined his fallen brother. "He's hurt, and really badly. He's barely breathing. We need to get him to the medic center fast!"

Michelangelo and Raphael gently picked Leonardo up.

"OK, Cody, let's get the medic-bots up and running, then we can figure out who did this to him," Donatello called over his shoulder.

There was no answer.

"Uh, Cody?" Donatello looked around.

A large cabinet was blocking where his door was, effectively hiding it. The purple-clad turtle grimaced in frustration. It seemed that whoever had blocked them in had also blocked both Cody and Master Splinter's doors as well.

"Come on, guys," Donatello motioned to his brothers. "We'll take Leo to the sick bay and then you two can come back and free Cody and Master Splinter while I get Leo to a more stable condition."

--------------------

Raphael and Michelangelo softly lay their brother's limp form on one of the sick beds as Donatello booted up the system. Little Auto-Docs medical robots began examining Leonardo.

"Will he be OK, Donnie?" Michelangelo asked, his eyes full of concern.

"I don't know right now, Mikey." Donatello shook his head sadly. "Only time will tell."

Hesitantly, Mikey and Raphael left the sick bay and returned to the main living room. As they walked in, a clock chimed three.

"It's already three in the afternoon?" Michelangelo exclaimed, surprised.

"Ugh! Then why am I still so tired?" Raphael groaned as they walked over to the bookshelf that was blocking Master Splinter's door.

"I…ugh…dunno…" Michelangelo responded as they pushed the bookshelf out of the way. "I…don't even remember…the last time Master Splinter…or Leo…let us…sleep…that…late!"

"Ugh! There!" Raph smacked his hands together, satisfied that the heavy shelves had finally been moved.

"Master Splinter?" Michelangelo stuck his head into the room.

There was no answer.

"Sensei, can we come in?"

Again, there was no answer.

The two turtles looked at each other worriedly. "We'd better go check, just in case!"

"Sensei?" Raphael called as they walked in. "Where are you?"

Michelangelo flipped on the light. Master Splinter was still lying in bed, snoring softly.

"Master? Leo's been hurt real bad and it's three in the afternoon. You need to get up!" Raphael exclaimed, gently touching the rat's shoulder.

Usually, by now he would have woken up, but he did not stir.

"Master Splinter! Come on! Wake up!" Mikey gently shook his sensei. "Only Raph's supposed to be this hard to wake up!"

"Hey!"

Still, Splinter did not even move, other than the gentle rising and falling of his chest.

"What should we do, Raph?"

"I dunno," he shrugged worriedly. "Maybe we should get him to Donnie. He'll know what to do."

Very carefully, Raphael picked his master up. "We'll be right back for Cody."

As they were leaving Master Splinter's room, Michelangelo tripped over a long piece of metal. It was Sterling's leg. The robot was not active.

"Great," Raphael groaned and smiled wryly. "We're the only ones awake. No wonder he wasn't yelling at us for making this mess."

Quickly, they brought Master Splinter to the medic center.

"What happened?" Donatello exclaimed, seeing their unconscious father as Raphael laid him down on one of the beds.

"He wouldn't wake up," Michelangelo replied.

"Seems like everything and everyone in this place is out! What the shell is going on?" the red-clad turtle shouted, punching his hand into one of the walls.

"Easy, Raph," Donatello tried to calm him down. "Maybe Cody's awake. You need to go get him. He's a lot more familiar with this healing tech than I am."

Grumbling, Michelangelo and Raphael hurried back to the main living room. From the other side of the cabinet that was blocking Cody's door, there was a faint banging.

"Cody! You OK?" the orange-clad turtle called.

"Yeah, I'm fine," came the faint reply. "What's going on? Why am I locked in?"

"Just a sec, little ninja! We're going to get you out of there!" Raphael and Michelangelo lifted the cabinet up. It was much lighter than the bookshelves that had been blocking their master's room.

"WHOA!" Cody exclaimed as he saw the mess in the living room. "What happened?"

"Not sure, Cody," Raphael answered. "But Leo and Master Splinter are both out cold and in the sick bay with Don. He needs you."

"Then I'm there," the boy replied.

He started to hurry to the medic center in his lab when he caught sight of Sterling. He rushed over to the robot's side.

"Sterling? Sterling? Are you OK? Please don't have crashed! Sterling! Wake up!" He was beginning to panic.

"He'll be OK, Cody," Michelangelo assured him.

"Yeah," Raphael agreed. "You get on to help Donnie, and we'll bring ol' rust-bucket along with us."

"He's probably just in sleep mode, or something like that," Michelangelo consoled him. "Don't worry, he'll be fine."

"Well, okay…." The boy stood up hesitantly.

Together, the two turtles lifted the robot up onto their shoulders and followed Cody back to his lab. Master Splinter was awake now, but he was still lying on the medic bed.

"Good, Cody. You're alright," Donatello sighed in relief. "According to the auto-docs, there's some residual particles from a potent sleeping gas both on Master Splinter's fur and all over Leo. But what do you make of these readings?"

He showed Cody the strange response from the medical robots as Michelangelo and Raphael set the inactive Sterling down in Turtle X's old harness.

"Hmmm….I don't know," Cody mused. "They're healing his cuts and there's no internal damage, but I don't know what to make of this." He pointed to some markings on a chart. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"Maybe Sterling could tell us what happened," the purple-clad turtle suggested, turning to the robot.

Michelangelo and Raphael sat with Leonardo and Master Splinter as Donatello and Cody tried to figure out what was wrong with Sterling.

"Ah, here it is," Don announced after a few minutes of searching. He plugged a loose cord back in, and Sterling came back on-line.

"Good gracious," he exclaimed. "Why am I up here? Let me down this instant!"

As soon as his feet were back on the ground, he asked, "Is that dreadful creature gone?"

The others all looked at each other, confused.

"What dreadful creature, Sterling?" Cody asked.

"Well, I guess I'll just show you," the robot replied. "I had just come into the living room after making sure everything was locked up tight for the night, when I saw this uncouth creature engaged in sword play with Leonardo."

He raised one of his arms and a holographic screen appeared. They all gasped as they recognized the dark figure.

"It's the Shredder!" Donatello gasped, unbelievingly.

_"You will fall, Leonardo!" the Shredder growled. "Never!" Leonardo replied, parrying. Suddenly, the Shredder pulled out several pellets from a compartment in his gauntlet and threw them on the ground. Leonardo started coughing violently as a billowing gas began to block out the screen. "__Sterling__!" the turtle's voice came from the fog. "Don't let him find the others!" Then, there was the sound of a thump. Next, the screen showed __Sterling__'s hands pushing various objects in front of door-openings. The gasses began to clear, showing the Shredder standing over a fallen Leonardo. "Get away from that terrapin, or I'm warning you," __Sterling__'s voice rang out. "If you do not, I shall be forced to engage you in fisticuffs!" The Shredder merely laughed and waved his hand for the robot to bring it on. The last thing the screen showed was the bottom of the Shredder's foot crashing into __Sterling__, and then it went dark._

"When my system rebooted, I was here with all of you," Sterling added as the video came to an end.

"Well, I guess we know what happened to poor Leo." Donatello glanced over at his unconscious brother.

"You know, I'm kinda surprised that the walkin' hardware store left any part of Leo," Raphael commented.

"True dat," Michelangelo agreed. "Usually he's like 'I'm going to destroy you freaks, bwahahaha!'"

Just then, Leonardo gasped and sat up, panting.

"Leo!" They all ran to his side.

"I-I'm alive?" he asked in disbelief, touching his hands to his arms.

"We were kinda surprised too," Donatello admitted.

"But sure as shell glad that you are!" Mikey added with a grin. "How do you feel?"

"Tired." Leonardo leaned back down carefully. "Okay, just very tired."

Almost immediately, his eyes closed and his breath slowed.

"He's asleep," Donatello whispered. "That's probably the best thing for him now."

"Feel up to making a late breakfast?" Cody turned to Sterling.

"Certainly, Master Cody," the robot agreed. "And then I shall start sorting out the gargantuan mess that that uncouth visitor last night created."

The very thought of cleaning seemed to give him great pleasure. In almost no time, the robot whipped up several plates of scrambled eggs, toast with loganberry jam, and slices of some sort of fruit. He also made a bowl of porridge for Leonardo.

The rest of the day went on much more normally. Donatello and Cody worked on the security system, Raphael worked out in the dojo, Michelangelo played vid-games, and Master Splinter meditated and tended to the garden on the roof. All throughout the day, though, they checked in on Leonardo. The injured turtle woke up just long enough to eat, and then each time went back into a deep sleep.

No one really paid any attention to Sterling as he tidied the living room. He swept up the broken glass, righted furniture, and reorganized the various knickknacks that had been knocked out of place. Then, to his astonishment, he saw something that did not have a place. He picked up the small, silvery tube and unwrapped the note that was tied around it. As he read the note, his cybernetic eyes bulged out and he rushed to the laboratory where Donatello and Cody were working on the security system.

"What is it, Sterling?" Cody looked up.

"It seems that the prowler last night left us an ultimatum." He handed the tube and the note to the boy.

"What's it say, Cody?" Donatello turned around and pushed up his wielding visor.

"It says," Cody began to read, "_Turtles – I hold the life of Leonardo in my palm. Any moment I choose, I have the ability to destroy him.__ Do my bidding or he shall not last through the night._"

* * *

_Please review. Anything will be appriciated._


	3. The Return, Part 2

_A/N: Sorry it took so long and is relativly short, guys. Between school, work, writer's block, and more work, I'm going crazy. But anyway, time for some shout outs:_

_Rene: I know, I'm not very satisfied with that_ _part either. Thanks, though! _:)

_Angel-phantom-babii: Your wish is my command!_

_Darlantana (it took me several tries to spell your name, sorry But then, today it took me several times to spell "for" also. Must just be the day -.-'''): Don't worry about it._ :) _I'm just glad to see you!_

* * *

**Part 2**

"Why are we back here again?" Michelangelo asked, looking around. He, Donatello, and Raphael were in the warehouse that the Dark Clones had held him prisoner in.

"That's what the note said to do," Donatello explained. "But Leo's not well enough yet to even move, much less fight."

"And he won't be getting any better any time soon," a hated voice growled from the shadows.

"Shredder!" Raphael growled, pulling out his two sai.

"It gives me no pleasure to see any of you alive, that is for certain, but I would not wish to cause one of your deaths…prematurely." He grinned evilly, waving a small remote control. "One press of this and the device I implanted in Leonardo will instantly start to destroy him."

"What sort of device?" Raphael's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Nanobots. Thousands are now inside your brother's cardio-vascular system. As we speak, they are attaching themselves to his blood cells. If you refuse to cooperate, then they will each explode, taking the blood cells with them. And when that happens—"

"Instant death." Donatello's eyes widened as he understood.

"So what do you want, Shredder?" Michelangelo asked.

"Yeah, it's not like you to want us ta do anything for you," Raphael agreed.

"My…associates tell me that you arrived here through a time portal, much like the one I was pulled though on the night we first met in combat."

"You mean on that day when the very fabric of space and time ripped back in Sho'Kenabo's ship?" the scientific turtle understood suddenly.

"Then that truly was you and not some strange alternate dimension," the Shredder realized. "Truly a fascinating device. And that is why you three are going to create one for me."

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up!" Mikey waved his hands incredulously. "You want us to just make you something that Donnie and Cody have been trying to make for the past several months and couldn't do?"

The Utrom raised an eyeridge. "And yet, it has worked before."

"Only twice, and each time was due to a fluke, a possible variance in the temporal weave."

Raphael and Michelangelo looked at each other blankly.

"The Cody's time window is based on the theory that time is woven back and forth in thousands of layers, like cloth folded over on itself. Theoretically, one could peak through the weave and thereby view the past or look forwards to the future by vibrating molecules in a certain sequence at a certain frequency quickly enough to hold open the weave, though only at certain, corresponding moments. It's very similar to the Morris-Thorne theory of traversable wormholes."

"Um…OK?" Mikey scratched the back of his head.

"Anyway, we haven't been able to recreate these occurrences," Donatello explained to the Shredder.

"And that is why you shall be working alongside my new subordinates," he waved towards the shadows.

The four Dark Turtles stepped forwards, each bearing the sign of the Foot hanging on a pendent from their necks. Every weapon was immediately drawn.

"Hey, uglies, not satisfied with your last butt-whoopin?" Raphael growled.

"I can give ya one right now, stink-breath!" his clone replied.

"ENOUGH!" Shredder exclaimed, holding up the remote. "All of you are going to work together, like it or not. And you know the penalty of failure." He spun around and left the seven turtles together.

--------------------

Several hours later, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo returned to Cody's penthouse. They were completely exhausted. Most of the day had been spent in endless bickering with their clones. Donatello sighed.

"There is no possible way that we could ever construct a working time window for the Shredder. Imagine what would happen. He could take over the entire world!" He shuddered as he remembered the grim future he had seen when the Ultimate Ninja had sent him to that alternate reality.

"But if we don't, he'll make Leo explode," Michelangelo reminded him.

"ARGH!" Raphael slammed his fist into the couch's armrest. "There needs to be some other way!"

"Don't worry, I'll think of something." Don laid a comforting hand on his brother's arm. "I'm going to go check on him."

Donatello peaked into the medic lab. His brother was lying quietly on the bed, apparently asleep. Glancing at the charts, the purple-clad turtle nodded his head. Nanobots would certainly correspond with the readings. He turned to go.

"Donnie?"

"Hey, Leo." He turned back around. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been worse."

They both grimaced, knowing how true that was.

"So what's the problem, doctor?"

Donatello smirked at his brother's weak attempt at a joke. "Not too bad, compared to last time, anyway. You have a couple of broken ribs, some mild internal bleeding, a fracture in your arm, and a sprained ankle. Not to mention large amounts of bruising, but I think you'll live."

Leonardo nodded his head slightly. "I see. And what else is it?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Come on, Donnie. You think I can't tell when you're hiding something? Is everyone OK?"

"Um…well…mostly."

The injured turtle's face grew very serious, very quickly. "What is it Donnie? What's happened?" A hint of panic crept into his voice.

Don hesitated for a moment, and then sat down on his brother's bed.

"Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we're all fine. It seems that you were the only one that the Shredder managed to get to."

Leo relaxed a little with this information. "And the bad news?"

"The bad news is that he implanted you with thousands of nanobots."

"Like those tiny swarming robots that Nano was made up of?"

"Exactly."

"So what exactly does that mean, Don?"

Silence.

"Don?" Leonardo was very concerned now.

"Um…the nanobots have attached themselves to your red blood cells. He can kill you at any time he wants by breaking the cells open, causing extreme hemolysis. Without any red blood cells, you would die in a matter of minutes."

"If he wanted to kill me so badly, why hasn't he already done it?"

"He wants Cody's time window." Donatello got up and walked over to the window and looked out.

"So that's it, he's using me as a hostage, just like Darius tried to use Mikey."

The blue-clad turtle tried to push himself up, grunting in pain. His brother ran back to his bedside and gently pressed him back down.

"Hold still or you'll take even longer to heal!" Donatello admonished him.

Leonardo sighed angrily. "I won't let you guys do that! Do you have any idea what the Shredder could _do_ with a time machine?"

"Of course we do, Leo." His shoulders slumped slightly. "But you're our brother and we don't want to lose you. You would do the same thing for any of us."

"There's got to be some other way. How long can nanobots stay in my body?"

"Well, your average blood cell has a lifespan of one hundred and twenty days. However, the nanobots are probably programmed to release dying cells and attach themselves to new ones. Either way, they won't be out of your system for a very long time."

"Then I have to do something before he can!" Leonardo pushed himself up and tried to swing his legs over the side of the bed.

"Leo, you're in no condition to do anything! I will lock the force field around you if I have to," Donatello warned. "Now lay back down. I need to have the Auto-Docs check to see if the internal bleeding has stopped yet."

Begrudgingly, the injured turtle lay back down and let the little robots crawl all over him.

"Good," Don smiled in relief as he read the readout. "The bleeding's stopped for now. But don't make any sudden movements or you could open the lesions up again. I'd say you should be able to be up and about again in another day or so, but you won't be able to do much for about a month. Go ahead and get some rest. Good night, Leo."

"Night, Don."

The purple-clad turtle walked out of the room, turning off the lights. Leonardo lay on the table, his eyes wide open and glinting in the faint glow from the computer equipment. Even though his body might be injured, his brain was still working at full capacity.

--------------------

The Shredder poured out steaming tea into a small, porcelain cup. Meditatively, he lifted the cup to the exo-suit's lips.

"If you're just a crinkly brain in the stomach, why are you drinking tea?" Dark Leonardo walked in.

"It is…soothing." The Shredder set the cup down. "Why have you disturbed me?"

"There are things I do not understand about your 'plan.' We already have the plans for the time window. There's no reason for those losers! Just get rid of them already!"

The Shredder glared at him. "Leonardo will not be alive for much longer. Be satisfied with that. Now leave me."

"Yes…_Master_." Dark Leonardo bowed slightly, and then spun around and left the room.

--------------------

Then next morning, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo returned to the warehouse. While they were gone, Leonardo was being kept under the watchful eyes of Sterling and Master Splinter. Cody was busy on the nearby computers, trying to figure out a way to debug the turtle.

"These bots are more advanced than any tech I've ever seen before, except maybe for Utronian tech. But I haven't heard anything about them developing anything like this yet." The boy turned away from the computer. "These are micro-organic-mech-droids. Impossible to target exclusively in the body."

"So what exactly does that mean, Cody?" Master Splinter asked.

"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do to get them out," he replied.

Leonardo scratched the cast on his arm. One hundred years, and the thing was still as itchy as it had been in his time. "Then I'll just work around them." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and eased himself up, wincing as his sprained foot touched the ground.

"Leonardo, you will do nothing," his master ordered. "I know you well enough to see that you are planning something. I will not allow you to do anything that would endanger your life. Your brothers are quite capable of handling this themselves."

"I know, Sensei," the turtle responded. "I just want to be ready for when the Shredder's gotten what he wants. You know what he would do then."

The rat nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, we must be ready for that time."

* * *

_So there you go. Read and review please! _


	4. The Return, Part 3

_A/N: Sorry it's taken so long guys. I swear, my professors are crazy. I've had a test evey Monday and Wednesday for the past two months, so the rest of my time's been spent either studying or working. Anyway, there will only be one part after this and I will try to get it up soon._

**Disclaimer: Still the same as the beginning of the story**

* * *

Three weeks passed. Except for the fracture in his arm, Leonardo was completely healed. His brothers, with some 'help' from the Dark Turtles (mainly Dark Donatello – the others had almost broken it several times), had completed the basic structure of the time window. During that time, they saw very little of the Shredder and nothing of Darius Dun. The Dark Turtles had said that he would come by occasionally during the evenings to bring them food, but that was it. He knew nothing about the Utrom's covert operation.

--------------------

Like they had been doing everyday for a while now, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo went to the warehouse. Again, they left Leonardo at home, something which chaffed him badly. However, he did understand their concern that having him there with them would give the Shredder reason to destroy him. But today, Leo had decided, would be different. While Master Splinter was meditating in the garden and Cody was at a board meeting at O'Neil Tech, the turtle snuck into the hanger. He pressed his hand on the door control panel.

_Access Denied._

He growled in annoyance. Don must have adjusted the security system so that he couldn't follow them. Not that something so simple as a door would stop him. He grinned as another thought popped into his head. He walked over to his hover-bike and pressed a button marked _Open_. The hanger's doors slid back. Hopping on the bike, he sped out of the building.

"It's probably lucky for me that Donnie hasn't had time to fix my gauntlet yet," he reflected. "Otherwise, they'd probably see me coming."

He landed the bike a couple of blocks away from the warehouse. Then, using every ounce of ninja training, he snuck up next to the building. Last time, he had gotten in through a broken window on the second story, but he could see that it had been boarded up securely. He crinkled brow as he prowled around the building's corner. Ever step was a careful one, silently picking the foot up and even more silently setting it down. One could never be too careful when sneaking around a building full of ninja. His eyes glanced rapidly over the face of the building and landed on an air duct cover imbedded in the wall about three stories up. There it was, another way in. He looked up at the sky, annoyed with the sun. He just had to hope that no one would see him since there were no shadows to hide in. Leonardo pulled his climbing spikes out of his belt and began the assent. It did not take long for him to reach the air vent. Carefully balancing himself, he gently pulled on the grate. To his surprise, it came off easily in his hand. He quickly swung himself into the duct and cautiously replaced the cover. Replacing the climbing spikes in his belt, the turtle began to silently make his way through the duct. Every now and then, he would come across an opening into the rooms below. For the most part, they were empty save for piles of boxes and dust.

"Looks like Dun's ops went even farther than we had imagined," he mused. "If those really are filled with weapons, he could supply a whole army!"

Leo continued on down the duct. Rounding a bend, he saw another vent at the very end. Light was shining through it. Warily, the blue-clad turtle peeked through the slats. The vent opened up to the other side of the building.

"Looks like I'm going back."

He crawled back to the nearest opening and gently lifted it out of the groove it was sitting in. His every sense on the alert, Leonardo lowered his head down and looked around. Just more boxes and dust. Without a sound, he flipped down and held perfectly still, not even daring to breath. There were no sounds except for his heart beating in his chest. He exhaled softly. Standing up, he glanced around the room. The only light was coming in through a tiny barred window near the ceiling. Little specks of dust were floating in the sole beam. He turned to another wall with a door. He gently tried the handle. It was not locked. Carefully, Leo pressed the door outwards, certain that it would squeak any moment. He listened. There was a faint murmur of talking, but it sounded far away. He took a quick glance back over his shoulder into the room and frowned at the trail of footprints that he had left.

"I'll need to work on that."

He pressed the door a little further and peered out. The door opened up onto a metal catwalk. No one was within eyesight. He snuck out onto the grating and reclosed the door. From his new vantage point, he could see the same beams that he had hidden on last time he was here.

"This must have been where _he_ had been when he found me."

The turtle had never quite figured out what to call his clone.

Down below in the main chamber, both Donatellos were arguing about some specific function of the time window. Leonardo rolled his eyes. He only understood about half of the words they were using. He looked around to see if he could spot his other brothers. Raphael was fighting with his clone, sai drawn. Leonardo grasped the tsuka of his katana and made ready to jump down to his brother's aid. But to his surprise, it appeared that they were just sparing.

"Of course," the hidden turtle mused, "that's probably just an act on both parts. I wonder what's keeping them from just attacking. They aren't known for their self-control."

He crept a little farther forwards, looking around for his youngest brother. Mikey was in deep conversation with Dark Michelangelo as they stood looking at a cardboard box. Leo could just make out the words _Vid__ Games_ printed on the top.

"Somehow, it seems so…normal."

His eyeridges shot up in amazement as Dark Leonardo walked in. He was carrying the bonsai that Leo had given him while he was a recovering captive in Cody's penthouse. The miniature tree looked very healthy and well kept up. The Dark turtle gently set it down in one of the corners that was bathed in light. Then the blue turtle sat down and began meditating.

"They aren't really that different from me and my brothers."

As if in response, Dark Leonardo's eyes flashed open and he looked up towards the catwalk. Leo crouched down, out of sight. He waited for a few minutes, scarcely daring to breath, before moving back to where he could see below. He looked around for any sign of the Shredder's whereabouts, but could not spot him. Silently, the turtle crept along the catwalk until he reached a ladder at the very end. He would have to be very careful now. If he did take the ladder down, he would be completely exposed to all of the other turtles and the Clones below him. Luckily, there was another catwalk about ten feet down. With a fleeting look towards the others, Leonardo dropped silently down. He held perfectly still, again just listening, but it seemed that no one had heard him.

"Good."

Suddenly, his heart almost stopped as the faint sound of foot on metal came from below. Someone was climbing the ladder that led to the first floor, and it was probably his own Clone. Leo looked around quickly. Spotting another door only a few feet away, he backed towards it. Luckily, it was unlocked. He slid through the opening and softly shut the door just in time. The footsteps drew closer and the knob turned. Slightly panicked, the blue-clad turtle spun around, his eyes searching desperately in the sparsely furnished room.

Dark Leonardo opened the door and stepped inside. He barely even glanced around as he made his way to the other side of the room. He pressed a button and a stack of boxes moved aside, revealing a door. It was roughly painted with the sign of the Foot. With a slight hesitation, he knocked on the door. A barely discernable answer came from inside. The Clone opened the door and walked inside.

Leonardo stepped out of the deep shadows in the corner of the room that was closest to the door. He cautiously crept forwards so that he could hear the voices from inside the other room.

"Leonardo is here," Dark Leonardo was saying. "I could feel his presence."

"Good," the Shredder answered. "Let him come. Then all shall proceed as planned. If you engage him, alert me immediately. Now go!"

Leonardo shrank back into the shadows as his Clone came out.

"Great. I've walked right into a trap," Leo realized.

Immediately, Dark Leonardo spun around as if he had heard Leonardo's thought. However, his eyes revealed nothing to him.

"I know you're here. It's only a matter of time before I find you," the blue turtle growled.

"I know," Leonardo replied from where he was leaning up against the wall.

The Clone faced him, drawing both his swords before spotting the bandages on Leonardo's arm.

"You came even though you are injured?"

"My family is more important to me than anything else. A small injury hasn't stopped me before and won't stop me today."

He reached his uninjured left arm up and pulled out his katana.

"Why do you trust the Shredder? Don't you know that he'll just get rid of you after he's gotten rid of my brothers and me?"

The Dark Turtle leapt forwards. "Actually," he grinned, "I'm going to be a general in his new army as he takes over the world. You and your pitiful brothers will only be the first casualties of the coming war."

Leonardo parried the blow and leapt to the side, sending Dark Leo stumbling back with a kick to the plastron.

"Why do you have so much hate for the world?" Leonardo asked.

"I-I don't know! Why do you have to keep asking questions? You're always asking those questions and making me doubt myself! Stop it!"

Just then, in response to the sounds of the fight, the Shredder walked in. He was dressed in full battle armor.

"I see you still get your suits from the hardware store, Shredder."

"Very funny, Leonardo. But you shall not be making such wise cracks now, for my revenge is almost complete."

"Kill me if you want, Shredder, but without me you will have nothing to make my brothers stay and finish that machine. They will be able to get away from you and stop you for good."

"Who said any of you were going to leave this building alive?" The Shredder held up a remote control-like device. "Did you really think my plan would be so simple? You are more foolish than I thought."

He began to press buttons on the remote like one would use a video game controller. Completely against his will, Leonardo sheathed his drawn katana.

"What the shell?!?"

"My nanobots did not only enter your blood stream, but have also attached themselves to the nerves in your motor cortex, cerebellum, and basal ganglia. I control your every movement. _I_ am not even going to touch your brothers. You shall have the pleasure of destroying them yourself. And then when they have all fallen by your blade, the nanobots in your system will explode, killing you. The last sight you shall see as you gasp for breath in excruciating pain will be the bodies of your brothers, sliced by your blade!" He broke out into an evil laugh.


	5. The Return, Part 4

_A/N: I'm REALLY sorry that it took so long to get this last part up. I had forgotten how difficult it is to make the story draw to a close. I hope you all like it, and thank you all for being so patient._

**Disclaimer: I don't own the turtles, although I did get a new TMNT dvd the other day...**

* * *

The Shredder's red, artificial eyes began to glow more brightly as he became even more pleased with himself. 

"I spent countless years devising the perfect revenge on you four freaks, and now I shall see it carried out!"

He pressed a series of buttons and Leonardo walked towards the door with the Shredder and Dark Leonardo following closely behind. Leo was made to fling open the door and perch on the railing.

"GUYS! RUN!" the distraught turtle screamed.

His brothers and the three other Clones looked up at him.

"Leo! What are you doing here? Get out of here quick before Shred Head finds you!"

"Too late," the Utrom boomed.

Leonardo jumped down off of the railing. "Guys! Get out of here! I can't control myself!"

"Whoa, Leo, calm down. We'll take the Shredder down together."

"Yeah, its not like we haven't done that that other time, and the time after that, and the time after that, and then there was that other time," Michelangelo added.

"Hurry!"

The blue-clad turtle was desperate now. He felt his one good arm reaching up and pulling his katana out of its sheath. The sword swung out, immediately activated. A blast of blue energy sped towards his brothers. They all ducked in the nick of time.

"Leo! What's the big ide—whoa!"

Raphael ducked backwards as his brother swung his swords mere inches from his head. Raph jumped backwards, just out of range. He drew his two sai and parried as Leonardo rushed him. The blue-clad turtle kicked out at his brother while their weapons were engaged – a move that was very uncharacteristic for him. Michelangelo and Donatello hurried towards their two fighting brothers.

"Please! Go!" Leonardo begged, a small tear beginning to trickle out from under his bandana.

His body turned towards his two youngest brothers. The Shredder laughed up on the catwalk. Donatello looked up and immediately understood what was happening.

"Mikey! It's the Shredder's remote control! He's controlling Leo with it! I'll help Raph with Leo; you try to get it away from him!"

"No problem-o, dude!"

The orange-clad turtle ran towards the ladder that led to the catwalk, but three of the Dark Turtles blocked his path.

"Oh, come _on_!" Mikey groaned. "We've been doing fine for, like, three whole weeks and _now_ you want to fight? Sheesh!"

"We've been waiting a long time for this," Dark Michelangelo smirked.

"It is most certainly irksome that my brothers and I are not the ones to bring about your destruction ourselves, though," Dark Donatello complained.

"We could jus' get this one," Dark Raphael grinned in anticipation, showing all of his very long, very sharp teeth.

"Well, while you guys figure it out, I've got stuff to do,"

Michelangelo tried to leap over them, but his Clone's hand reached up and grabbed his ankle. He held Mikey up to his face. "I'm not _that_ stupid, you know."

"Does that mean you're still a little bit stupid?"

"Quit fooling around down there," the Shredder yelled down at them. "Finish that annoyance off now!"

The youngest turtle gulped.

Raphael picked himself up off the floor from where he had landed. Donnie seemed to be doing OK against Leo, which was rather surprising. Then, the red-clad turtle noticed that his older brother didn't seem to be fighting in his normal way. His every move was more backhanded, like the Shredder's fighting style. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mikey being held upside down by his Clone.

"Let go of him!"

He threw one of his activated sai towards the orangey-yellow turtle. The clone ducked, dropping Michelangelo on his head.

"Thanks for the landing," Mikey said sarcastically.

He ducked away from the grasp of the other Clones and quickly scaled the ladder. Raphael was just about to go and join him when Donatello was knocked back, almost hitting his hot-headed brother. Leonardo advanced on both of them.

"Raph! Look out! I don't want to hurt you!"

"Bro, you couldn't even beat me if you tried!"

Raphael put on his most taunting face, but winked quickly at Leo. Hopefully his brother would realize that he was trying to distract the Shredder long enough for Mikey to get a jump on him. Leonardo lunged at him.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Leo whispered as Raphael sidestepped his attack.

Meanwhile, the Dark Clones were right on Michelangelo's heels as he scurried up the ladder.

"You know, if he thought _I'm_ annoying, he must hate you. You're like a gazillion times more annoying than me," he called down.

Dark Michelangelo, who was in the lead, stopped suddenly. His two brothers bumped into him.

"Move it, tongue for brains!"

"Hey wait, guys!" The orangey turtle swung down to face them. "What if he's got a point?"

"Only as much of a point as yer stinkin' head," Dark Raphael growled. "If ya ain't goin' ta move, I'm a'goin' ta move ya!"

"Okay! Okay! Sheesh!" Dark Michelangelo grumbled, spinning back around.

However, the short argument had given Mikey enough time to scamper up the rest of the ladder. He reached the top, only to find himself face to face with Dark Leonardo. Michelangelo groaned. Then, to his complete surprise, the Clone stepped aside.

"I refuse to have anything more to do with this."

The Dark Turtle tore the pendant off of his neck and threw it forcibly to the ground.

"It is one thing to destroy you myself. It is another to force one of your own to do it."

He jumped over the side of the catwalk, landing lithely on the floor below.

"Come on. We're leaving!" he called to his brothers.

He stormed towards the exit. The other three Dark Clones looked at each other. Dark Michelangelo got a huge, crazy grin on his face and leaped down. As he ran to join his leader, he called over his shoulder

"See you never, Irish Setter!"

"Get back here, you traitors!" the Shredder yelled down at them.

However, the other two Clones also followed after Dark Leonardo.

"GET BACK HERE NOW!"

But the only response the Shredder got was Dark Raphael giving him the bird – or at least as much of the bird that a three-fingered hand can give. As the four Dark Turtles left, Michelangelo advanced on the Shredder.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Shred-head." The turtle spun his nunchuks around.

"That's what you think," his adversary spat back.

The Utrom started to press a few buttons on the remote control, but had to stop when Michelangelo lunged at him. Down below, Leonardo made a few jerky movements, and then held perfectly still. His back was facing the catwalk.

"What's going on, guys?" He was desperately hoping that his youngest brother had succeeded.

"Shredder can't keep moving you when he, himself, is so distracted," Donatello explained.

"Then we need to use that to our advantage."

"Just what I was thinkin'," Raphael agreed.

He rushed to join his youngest brother; Donatello followed closely after him. As they rushed up the ladder, Leo found that he was able to move on his own again. Apparently the nanobots inside of him had gone into some sort of sleep mode without the Shredder's continuous signals. He was about to join the others when the Shredder leaped down from the catwalk, tucking the remote into his belt as he dropped. All of the turtles rushed him. The Utrom kicked Mikey backwards while at the same time ducking under Donatello's bo. Leonardo twisted around, teleporting his full weight into a kick, hitting the Shredder in his relatively unprotected side. The Shredder fell and rolled for a few feet before skidding to a halt and leaping back upright.

"Do you freaks really think it would be so simple to defeat me? You have played right into my hands! I still have the power to destroy at least one of you with just the press of a button!"

"Oh really?" Raphael taunted, waving the remote he had lifted from the Shredder's belt.

"Give that to me!" The enraged Utrom rushed at the red-clad turtle.

"Not on your life!" Raphael retorted.

He tossed the remote to Mikey, moments before the alien reached him. He then leaped backwards out of the Shredder's reach. The Shredder turned and rushed towards the wildly grinning turtle. Michelangelo's face suddenly blanched as he realized his precarious situation. He tossed the remote over to Donatello moments before ducking under the Shredder's swing.

"Careful, guys!" the purple-clad turtle scolded. If you accidently bump something, it will affect Leo!"

The Shredder kicked out, slightly nicking Michelangelo just enough to send him stumbling backwards. The alien grabbed the turtle's arm and twisted it behind his shell. His gauntlet was pressed up against Mikey's throat.

"Drop the remote! Now!"

Donatello looked pleadingly at his oldest brother. Leonardo took a deep breath.

"Do as he says, Donnie."

"But—"

"Now, Don," Leonardo insisted as Michelangelo whimpered slightly.

The Shredder was pressing his gauntlet even harder against the hostage turtle's jugular vein. Donatello leaned over and carefully set the remote on the warehouse floor.

"Slide it over to me," the Shredder ordered.

As the remote slid towards him, he pushed Michelangelo to the side and dove for the device. However, Mikey managed to kick the remote away, seconds before the Shredder reached it. The remote went spinning into a small grate that was covering a drain. Then, to everyone's dismay, it slipped through the slats and fell with a splash into the sewage below.

"Look what you have done!" the Shredder practically screamed, leaping back up. "You have ruined everything for the last time!"

He swung his gauntlet down at the orange-clad turtle's head. Michelangelo rolled out of the way as Leonardo blocked the blow with his sword.

"I will destroy you, Leonardo! You cannot possibly hope to win! I will destroy every last single molecule of you and your pathetic brothers!"

"That ain't goin' ta happen, Shred-head," Raphael retorted, kicking the Shredder from behind.

The Utrom stumbled to the side, barely missing being gored by Leo's blade.

"Not now, and not ever," Donatello agreed.

As the Shredder lurched back upright, Don's bo combined with Mikey's nunchuck sent him flying into the Time Window. Even though they could see nothing through the window, various beepings started to come from the control panel where the Shredder had landed. A loud whooshing sound filled the room and a strong wind began to suck inwards, towards the portal. The Shredder grabbed desperately for a handhold. All he could do was impale the control panel with his gauntlet. However, he was slowly being pulled backwards. The turtles had each embedded their respective weapons into the ground and were hanging on for dear life.

"DONNIE! WHAT'S GOING ON?" Leonardo yelled over the screeching winds.

"I'M GUESSING IT OPENED INTO SPACE!" Donatello called back. "THE VACUUM IS TRYING TO PULL US ALL THROUGH!"

Leonardo's sword lurched backwards slightly. "WE NEED TO STOP IT!"

"RIGHT!"

Just then, the Shredder's gauntlet ripped all the way through the control panel and he tumbled through the opening and hurtled into empty space. Boxes were starting to fly from the far corners of the room and into the window, sometimes missing the turtles by only inches. One by one, the boxes smashed into the sides of the portal before being pulled through to the other side.

"I'VE GOT AN IDEA!" Donatello shouted. "RAPH, DO YOU THINK YOU CAN THROW ONE OF YOUR SAI INTO THE RED BOX ON THE SIDE OF THE WINDOW?"

Raphael made sure he had a firm grip on his other sai, and then pulled one up out of the ground threw it towards the intended target. The weapon managed to nick the side of the box just enough that its tsuba punctured the metal and kept it from careening into the window. A few sparks began to fly out as some of the wires were exposed to the suck of the vacuum. However, the portal continued to pull the turtles towards its mouth.

"DON! IF THAT BOX IS TAKEN OUT, THE WINDOW CAN'T WORK, RIGHT?" Leonardo bellowed.

"RIGHT. THAT'S THE FAIL-SAFE MECHANISM."

"WELL THEN I HOPE THIS WORKS!" Leonardo pulled his katana out of the cement and was immediately pulled towards the opening.

"LEO! WHAT THE SHELL ARE YOU DOING?!?" Raphael screamed in horror.

Without answering, the oldest of the brothers adjusted the angle of his body, tucking his knees to his chest, and turning around so that he was facing the replica of Cody's Time Window. Holding his sword out in front of him, he sped forwards, faster than any of them had ever moved on their own. The sword completely impaled the box. Electrical sparks began to stream out of it. The window glowed brightly for a moment, and then the wind instantly stopped. Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello fell to the ground with a thud. Leonardo, however, was still clutching his sword at the portal's side. Bolts of electricity were running down his body and into the floor. Michelangelo was the first up and ran over to him. He tried to grab Leo, but his hand was met with a sever shock.

"Leo! Let go of the sword!"

"I…can't!" the blue-clad turtle grunted.

"Don! Any way to stop the energy flow?"

"Working on it," Donatello called back from where he was furiously adjusting buttons on the control panel. "The Shredder messed this up pretty bad! I don't know if I can stop it!"

"Hurry!"

Leonardo was barely managing to stay conscious.

"Okay…here!" Don pressed a series of buttons.

Leonardo was released from the electricity's grip and fell backwards into Mikey's waiting arms.

"Thanks!"

"You alright?"

"Yeah."

"Guys," Donatello motioned to them frantically. "It's not off. I just put it on an override sequence! It's going to blow in exactly one minute!"

"Then let's get out of here!"

The four turtles ran towards the exit. As they were going out, Darius Dun was just arriving in his ship.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" he roared, seeing the mess. "YOU CRETANS GET BACK HERE!"

Laser blasts shot after the teens as they ran towards their waiting vehicles. Leonardo swung behind Donatello as they all sped off. Behind them, a loud explosion echoed across the docks, followed by several smaller reports. The warehouse collapsed in upon itself and burst into flames. The illegal weaponry that Darius had kept there was starting to explode with an even greater force.

"Dun is still in there," Donatello suddenly remembered. "Should we try to get him out?"

"No," Leonardo answered, his jaw set determinedly. "Let the Peacekeepers deal with him."

They sped off towards Cody's penthouse, stopping only to pick up Leo's hover-bike.

--------------------

Two days later, Donatello had just finished running some tests on Leonardo. As he carefully read the computer's screen, a large smile spread across his face.

"Good news. It looks like that electrical surge that went through you, Leo, has disabled the nanobots. They're still in you system, but I doubt they'll be there long without being active."

"That _is_ good," Leonardo agreed as the last of the auto-docs crawled off of him.

"Now, you just need to rest up that arm of yours, but it shouldn't be too much longer before you can get back to normal training. Just lay off on the handsprings for a while."

"I think I can handle that," Leo replied with a wry grin. "I never liked handsprings."

"Me neither," Michelangelo agreed from the other side of the room. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "Unless they're spring rolls in my hand. 'Cause that would be a handspring roll."

They all burst out laughing.

**The End**


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